Buy me a coffee“Living Mirage: The Shimmering Predator of Desert and Sea”
Living Mirage — The Deceptive Veil That Drains Life from Hopeful Wanderers
A Living Mirage is a vast, shimmering cloud of sentient air that haunts deserts, oceans, and sun-baked plains, luring travelers with the promise of water or shelter before siphoning their vitality. Mindless yet lethal, it embodies the cruel illusions of nature, striking without warning and leaving only desiccated remains in its wake.
Appearance:
A Living Mirage manifests as a colossal, ever-shifting haze, 20 feet across, composed of shimmering heat distortions or light-reflecting air. Its form is humanoid at times, suggesting a glimmering woman, but always intangible, flickering like a wavering oasis. No features are solid; edges ripple with the refracted air, and its presence is betrayed only by wavering light or the faint shimmer of distant horizon.
Behaviour:
Mindless and instinct-driven, a Living Mirage drifts silently across open landscapes. It avoids confrontation unless feeding, yet its illusions lure unwary travelers directly into its grasp. It exhibits no malice or emotion, functioning purely on survival instinct.
Habitat:
Found in warm or cold deserts, open oceans, and calm snow plains, Living Mirages are solitary wanderers, patrolling wide, featureless expanses. Their territories are defined less by borders than by the presence of potential prey and atmospheric conditions conducive to their mirage projections.
Modus Operandi:
They employ illusory visions—mirages of water, shade, or distant land—to draw prey within its engulfing cloud. Victims are enveloped in shimmering air, unable to detect the invisible predator, while streams of moisture are siphoned from their bodies. Unlike typical oozes, it does not crush or pin, instead dehydrating its victims gradually, leaving them fatigued and thirst-ravaged.
Motivation:
Driven solely by the instinct to feed, the Living Mirage consumes water and minerals from living creatures to sustain its gaseous form. It possesses no intellect or desire beyond survival, existing as a natural predator born of heat, reflection, and atmospheric extremes.
Living Mirage 5e 2024
Living Mirage, Pathfinder
Living Mirage 3.5
Living Mirage
Gargantuan elemental (illusion), unaligned
Armor Class: 12
Hit Points: 152 (16d12 + 64)
Speed: Fly 40 ft. (hover)
| STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | 14 (+2) | 18 (+4) | — | 10 (+0) | 16 (+3) |
Saving Throws: Dex +6, Con +8, Wis +4
Skills: Stealth +9
Damage Resistances: Cold, Fire; Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing from Nonmagical Attacks
Damage Immunities: Poison, Psychic
Condition Immunities: Charmed, Frightened, Grappled, Paralyzed, Petrified, Poisoned, Restrained, Unconscious
Senses: Blindsight 60 ft., Passive Perception 10
Languages: —
Challenge: 10 (5,900 XP)
Traits
Gaseous Form. The Living Mirage is composed entirely of shimmering air. It can move through a space as narrow as 1 inch without squeezing. It cannot enter water and cannot manipulate objects. It has no Strength score and cannot be grappled, pushed, or restrained.
Invisible Distortion. The Living Mirage is permanently invisible. Creatures can attempt a DC 18 Wisdom (Perception) check to perceive its location when adjacent.
Wind Vulnerability. Strong wind disperses the Living Mirage. While in high wind, it has disadvantage on attack rolls and Constitution saving throws, and its flying speed is reduced to 0.
Actions
Multiattack. The Living Mirage makes two Desiccating Touch attacks.
Desiccating Touch. Melee Spell Attack: +8 to hit, reach 10 ft., one creature.
Hit: 22 (4d10 + 4) necrotic damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 16 Constitution saving throw or gain one level of exhaustion due to rapid dehydration. This effect stacks with repeated exposure.
Project Mirage (Recharge 5–6). The Living Mirage weaves a shimmering illusion in a 120‑foot cone, creating mirages of water, shade, or distant refuge. Each creature that can see the illusion must succeed on a DC 16 Wisdom saving throw or be charmed and compelled to move toward the illusion on its next turn. The effect lasts 1 minute or until the Living Mirage dismisses it. A creature can repeat the save at the end of its turn.
Reactions
Shimmering Shift. When a creature starts its turn within 10 feet of the Living Mirage, the creature must succeed on a DC 16 Intelligence saving throw or treat the space around the Mirage as difficult terrain for that turn.
Legendary Actions
The Living Mirage can take 2 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action can be used at a time and only at the end of another creature’s turn.
- Soothing Mirage. Emits a 30‑foot radius shimmer. Creatures of the Living Mirage’s choice that can see it must succeed on a DC 16 Wisdom saving throw or have disadvantage on attack rolls until the start of the Mirage’s next turn.
- Invisible Drift. The Living Mirage moves up to half its flying speed without provoking opportunity attacks.
Ecology
A Living Mirage drifts across deserts, calm open seas, and snow plains, feeding on the water and minerals of living creatures. It lures travelers with false promises of relief, surrounding and dehydrating its prey before dispersing into shimmering air. Mindless and relentless, it is nature’s cruel illusion made fleshless.
Living Mirage
This glimmering vision shimmers on the horizon, the very air coalescing into an oasis that may or may not exist.
Source Osirion, Legacy of the Pharaohs pg. 58
Originally posted in Archives of Nethys
A living mirage is a cloud of shimmering air that dwells in warm and cold deserts and calm stretches of open ocean. Although reviled as cruel deceivers, living mirages are in fact mindless, without any motive beyond feeding on the water and minerals found in living bodies.
| Living Mirage CR 9 |
| XP 6,400 N Gargantuan ooze Init +0; Senses Perception -5 |
| DEFENSE |
| AC 6, touch 6, flat-footed 6 (-4 size) hp 114 (12d8+60) Fort +9, Ref +4, Will -1 Immune sonic, ooze traits; Resist cold 10, fire 10 Weaknesses vulnerable to wind |
| OFFENSE |
| Speed fly 20 ft. (perfect) Melee touch +5 (3d6 plus desiccation) Space 20 ft., Reach 20 ft. Special Attacks consuming mirage (DC 21, 3d6 plus desiccation), natural invisibility, project mirage (DC 18) |
| STATISTICS |
| Strength -, Dexterity 10, Constitution 20, Intelligence -, Wisdom 1, Charisma 10 Base Atk +9; CMB +13; CMD 23 Skills Fly +2 SQ gaseous |
| SPECIAL ABILITIES |
| Consuming Mirage (Ex) A living mirage can engulf foes, as the universal monster ability. A creature engulfed by a living mirage doesn’t gain the pinned condition and may move normally. such a creature is not in danger of suffocating, but as long as it begins its turn engulfed, the victim is subject to the living mirage’s desiccation attack in addition to the damage this ability causes. The save DC to avoid a living mirage’s consuming mirage ability is Constitution-based. Desiccation (Ex) A living mirage siphons streamers of blood and other vital fluids away from living creatures it touches or engulfs. A living creature that takes damage from the living mirage must succeed at a Constitution check to avoid the effects of thirst (Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook 444), using the amount of damage dealt by the living mirage as the check’s DC. A creature that is already suffering the effects of thirst must attempt another Constitution check (DC equal to the damage dealt by the living mirage or the DC against thirst as if 1 hour had passed since the target creature’s last check, whichever is higher) or take nonlethal damage from their thirst as described in the Core Rulebook. The target takes a cumulative -1 penalty on this check for each consecutive round beyond the first it takes damage from the living mirage. A creature that takes nonlethal damage from thirst as a result of this ability is fatigued. Gaseous (Ex) A living mirage has a body composed of shimmering air. It can pass through small holes or narrow openings, even mere cracks, but cannot enter water or other liquid. It has no Strength score, and cannot manipulate objects as a result. Natural Invisibility (Ex) A living mirage remains invisible at all times, even when attacking. This ability isn’t subject to the invisibility purge spell. Against foes that cannot pinpoint it, a living mirage gains a +20 bonus on Stealth checks when moving or a +40 bonus when standing still. These bonuses are not included in the statistics above. Because of its size and pervasiveness within the area it occupies, a living mirage gains only a 20% miss chance due to its invisibility. Project Mirage (Ex) As a standard action, a living mirage can create an illusory vision in areas of extreme heat or reflection, such as a desert, open ocean, or snow plain, to lure victims toward it. This is a nonmagical mind-affecting glamer effect identical to hallucinatory terrain. The living mirage can dismiss this effect as a swift action. The save DC to disbelieve the illusion is Charisma-based, and includes a +2 racial bonus. Vulnerable to Wind (Ex) A living mirage is treated as a Small creature for the purposes of determining the effects high wind has upon it (Core Rulebook 439). |
| ECOLOGY |
| Environment any deserts or oceans Organization solitary Treasure incidental |
Living Mirage
Gargantuan Outsider (Air, Elemental, Extraplanar), Neutral
Hit Dice: 12d8+60 (114 hp)
Initiative: +0
Speed: Fly 20 ft. (perfect)
Armor Class: 6 (-4 size, +0 Dex), touch 6, flat-footed 6
Base Attack/Grapple: +9 / +13
Attack: Touch +5 (3d6 plus desiccation)
Full Attack: Touch +5 (3d6 plus desiccation)
Space/Reach: 20 ft./20 ft.
Special Attacks: Consuming Mirage, Desiccation, Project Mirage
Special Qualities: Gaseous, Natural Invisibility
Saves: Fort +9, Ref +4, Will -1
Abilities: Str —, Dex 10, Con 20, Int —, Wis 1, Cha 10
Skills: Fly +2
Feats: —
Environment: Warm or cold deserts, calm oceans
Organization: Solitary
Challenge Rating: 9
Treasure: Incidental
Combat Abilities
Gaseous (Ex). It has no solid body. It can pass through cracks and narrow openings, even as small as 1 inch wide, but cannot enter water or other liquids. It cannot manipulate objects or be grappled.
Natural Invisibility (Ex). The Living Mirage is invisible at all times. Opponents that cannot pinpoint it gain a 20% miss chance due to invisibility; it also gains a +20 bonus on Stealth checks while moving and +40 while standing still. This invisibility is not subject to spells such as invisibility purge.
Consuming Mirage (Ex). The Living Mirage can engulf creatures as a standard universal monster ability. Engulfed creatures are not pinned and may move normally but are subject to Desiccation each round. The DC to resist this effect is Constitution-based (DC 21).
Desiccation (Ex). Any living creature that takes damage from the Living Mirage must succeed on a Constitution check (DC equal to the damage dealt) or suffer thirst effects as per the Pathfinder Core Rulebook. Repeated exposure increases the cumulative penalty by –1 per round. Nonlethal damage from thirst causes fatigue.
Project Mirage (Ex). As a standard action, the Living Mirage can create an illusory vision in areas of extreme heat or reflection (deserts, open oceans, snow plains) to lure creatures toward it. Functions as hallucinatory terrain; Charisma-based DC 18 to disbelieve (+2 racial bonus). The effect can be dismissed as a swift action.
Vulnerable to Wind (Ex). Treated as a Small creature for determining effects of high winds.
Ecology
They are mindless, drifting predators of air and light. They inhabit deserts, snow plains, and calm seas, luring travelers with shimmering illusions of water, shade, or distant refuge, only to drain the water and minerals from their bodies. They are solitary, relentless, and entirely instinct-driven.
Description
A Living Mirage appears as a massive, wavering cloud of shimmering heat or refracted air. Occasionally its form suggests a humanoid figure, often a glimmering woman, but it is intangible and flickers constantly with the horizon’s light. Encountering one is like stepping toward hope only to feel it evaporate.